What the Gryphons Know
by Nightfall169
Summary: Sequel to You Look Good in Gray. What's poor Neville gotten himself into this time? Neco  Neville/Draco  slash.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Sorry this took so long. I'm second year uni and midterms and yeah...had to edit my Hagrid 'cuz it was way too confusing. Now I just need to write chapter 3 so I can post chapter 2.

Thank you for all of your comments. Much love. And if your name is Kieth Falwell, I am soooo sorry. **Disclaimer: **I own nothing but this storyline. **Note:** This is the sequel to You Look Good in Gray. Read that first or chapter 2 will make no sense. ^^

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Ch 1: Teachers and Students

There was a certain resemblance between the creature on the left and Gregory Goyle. Both had sticking faces. Both looked quite strong. And both seemed to carry the air of absolutely knowing that they are better than you. The creature on the right had a similar look, but instead of steady strength there was an light grace that was evident even though she was sitting. She was more comparable to Xiao Li, whose ambitious parents had sent her to Hogwarts in order to receive an English education. Reserved, discerning, and regal, the girl was almost immediately sorted into Slytherin.

"Now can any o' yeh tell me what these are?" Hagrid asked the huge group of students assembled in front of his cottage

A red-haired girl in Hufflepuff robes raised her hand above her classmates' heads.

"They look like hippogriffs!"

Both animals 'kaw'ed indignantly.

"Well that is a good guess. But these 'ere are gryphons. Never confuse the two if yeh can help it. It insults 'em."

The gryphons nodded.

"Gryphons look a lot like hippogriffs, at least to us, but if yeh notice, they 'aven't got horse hindquarters. Their bodies are feline all the way through."

"They look just as stupid though." Keith Falwell's voice rang out from somewhere behind Greg

"'ey! That was uncalled-for! Ten points from Slytherin!"

The Slytherin crowd murmured unhappily.

"They would 'a had being status if they could talk. They got their own language. But they still can understand every word yeh say!" Hagrid pointed at the students

He walked up to the gryphon on the left.

"This 'ere is Gold. He insisted we call 'im that. He's what we call a classic gryphon. The hawk's head and talons, lion body an' tail. Very strong feller. Can fly _me_ o'er Hogwarts. Can write English, too."

Gold lifted his head proudly and re-folded his front paws, yellow eyes staring at the crowd. Hagrid moved on to the gryphoness.

"An' this, is Wind. She's o' the opinicus variety, the difference bein' that she had feline paws, o' course. Other than that, eagle head and tail, cougar body. Not as strong, but she flies fast." He patted her on the neck, "These two come o'er every few years, so we gather all the older students to see 'em."

"Now," he stood to Gold's right, "The greetin' is The same as with the hippogriff if yeh remember. Yeh'll get one of four responses. Who wants to try it?"

Silence.

"Aww come on! One o' the Gryffindors? Harry, how 'bout you? You know how to deal with 'em!" Hargid winked

Harry reluctantly walked out of the crowd, looking not too much better than when he first faced Buckbeak.

"Come on, now. Give 'im a bow."

Harry bowed smoothly but carefully in front of Gold, looking up at the sitting gryphon to catch his reaction. The gryphon looked for a while before narrowing his eyes and 'kaw'ing.

"Step back, Harry. Step back."

Harry returned to his friends, a little bit confused.

"And I thought they were _Gryffin_dor!" Crabbe laughed, earning a chuckle from the rest of Slytherin

Greg inwardly moaned. Leave it to Vincent to come up with the puns...But the chuckling abruptly stopped when a sing-song voice asked, "Can I try it?"

"Well, sure yeh can." Hagrid said uneasily

Luna Lovegood emerged, barefoot, sucking on what looked like a lollipop, and stood before Wind. Stashing the candy in her robes, she curtseyed. Wind, like Gold, looked, and then made a sound that was a mix between a coo and a meow, and dropped her left wing. Luna smiled, skipping to her side, and sat under the drooping wing.

"Well I'll be..."

"What is it, professor?" Hermoine asked

"Oh nothin', Jus' surprised is all. See these two usually taken on four or five students to..ah...mentor for the rest o' the year. They say they teach 'em important lessons. Part o' the deal they 'ave with Dumbledore."

"So...Wind's going to tutor me?" Luna asked

"Yeah. She is...Okay, now everyone's gonna try it."

The students quickly discovered what the four reactions where. Harry had gotten a kind of mild disdain, which a few students, including Ron, Seamus, Benny Margot from Ravenclaw, and about a fourth of Slytherin, got. Most got a nice nod that was a sign of friendliness. A few (like Crabbe, Kieth and Lavender), however, got an angry 'kaw' followed by a raising of the wings, that meant complete dislike. Arthur Lovelace, a Hufflepuff who had tried to run away from the scene altogether, was accepted by Gold as a 'student'. Neville, the last Gryffindor to stand, shakily bowed before Wind. Straightening out, he caught her gaze and it was as though her green eyes where looking through him, into his very core. It was an eternity before she made the noise of approval she'd made for Luna, ending her 'inspection'.

"Way to go Nev!" he heard Ron cry

Neville made his way back to the crowd, only to be replaced by Draco, who had decided to wait to face the gryphon, probably remembering his earlier hippogriff-related faux pas. Strutting up to Gold, who looked both tired and annoyed, he bowed in the most obnoxious and lavish way possible, flapping his arms and making his robes swoosh about as if he were Snape on a bad day. He looked thoroughly pleased with himself until he froze, eyes instantly changing to a look of shock and fear. Neville knew that what had happened to him, was now happening to Draco. Everyone waited in silence, until Gold made the completely unexpected rumbling coo. Malfoy was going to be his 'student' as well.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Finals are over, and you know what that means! Some more fanfic! Well, I hope so. This chapter is a long time coming and chapter 3 isn't quite finished yet but I'm posting anyway.

A great big thank-you to my international readers and an apology to anyone named Kieth Falwell. I'm sure you're a lovely person, but he's my Slytherin douche in this story.

Discalimer: I own nothing but the plot and my OCs.

Warning: If you have not read You Look Good in Gray, you'll be mighty confuzzled.

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Chapter 2: Don't Fear Them

Neville was just about ready to pass out, face plastered over the 3-foot-long piece of parchment that was supposed to be his Potions essay.

_This..is just..wonderful. I go to the common room to avoid Dean and Seamus's banter and all I can get done is about two paragraphs._

Thankfully, the monster Potions essay wasn't due until the end of the week, because that little statement led Neville onto the long and complicated train of thought on how his situation had changed over the past month. Whisking Malfoy off to the hospital wing had more consequences than he'd ever considered. Not that the Gryffindors saw him differently or anything. Most of them eventually accepted Harry's explanation and wrote it off as just a typical thing for someone of their House to do. There was a mixed reaction among Hufflepuffs, even his own friends. Benny'd high-fived him the next day, praising Neville for 'finally bringing the git down to earth'. Mary then butted in to explain to Benny that Neville had just done it to be nice. Arthur was suspicious, but wouldn't explain why. When actually pressed for why he did it, Neville himself wasn't sure. It seemed just to be a spur-of-the-moment thing that had happened all on its own. Despite this, the incident didn't want to leave him alone. It had been playing in the back of his mind, like a tiny music box, for days. What's worse is that it had started affecting him. He'd become less keen on agreeing with his fellow Gryffindors when the subject of nasty Slytherins came up. He found himself fading from a conversation when Harry, Ron and Seamus would excitedly discuss ways to get back at them.

_It just isn't in me anymore..._

Because even though the likes of Milicent Bulstrode, Kieth Falwell, and Vincent Crabbe still bullied him whenever they could, Neville would always remember the other Slytherins. He'd remember Greg Goyle, standing like a silent brick wall, between him and Cormac McLaggen when the latter decided to corner Neville in the greenhouse again. He'd remember the tiny thank-you note and bit of very expensive candy that Pansy had slipped him in the library a week after. He'd remember Xiao Li and the (kind of creepy) de Lacroix twins, who, when no one was around, had collectively levitated him out of a tree when he'd gotten stuck trying to gather its seeds. They would probably deny ever doing these things if they were asked, but it served to cast doubt onto the widely held belief that the Slytherins were nothing but junior Death Eaters with no conscience.

_Now if only I could get one to help me with this stupid essay._

_

* * *

_

Having sessions with Wind and Luna agreed with Neville a lot more than normal Care of Magical Creatures classes. At the start of the first one, Hagrid led all four of them to a small clearing on the outskirts of the forest to meet the two gryphons, who stopped preening each other at their arrival. Hagrid explained that Wind and Gold were mates and that sort of thing would likely occur often. They had to do a fair bit of arguing with Arthur after Hagrid left, since Arthur was thoroughly terrified of creatures that stood a full head taller than him and, in his words, could 'disembowel and eat him ten seconds flat and leave no evidence'. Neville thought that Arthur was just as scared of being near a Slytherin without teacher supervision as he was scared of the gryphons themselves. Things evened out when they split into two groups and Arthur put the big frightening gryphon squarely between himself and Draco.

Neville and Luna decided to sit directly in front of Wind, who then greeted each by pressing her forehead against theirs. She then turned to Luna and a small half-embrace with her right wing and passed a strangely folded piece of paper to her. Luna, unfolding it, read:

Believe on one side, and

Find on the other, accompanied by a drawing of a green rock that had a see-through section. Luna looked back at Wind and skipped out into the woods to find the thing. The gryphoness watched her leave and when Luna was out of sight, turned back to Neville, seemingly only to stare at him for a while. There was nothing uncomfortable or piercing about the gaze this time, so Neville assumed she was just thinking. He shifted a bit, eyes wandering off to where Gold, Arthur and Draco were sitting. Their lessons looked a lot more 'hands-on'. Arthur and Draco were arguing and Gold was alternately 'kaw'ing at Arthur and pecking Draco on the head with his great beak. Malfoy, clutching the top of his head, looked about ready to storm off. Arthur started to slowly crawl back in Neville's direction, only to be stopped by the gryphon's wing. Gold let out an air-piercing call that silenced both, and then proceeded to talk rapidly in whatever language he spoke in, oblivious to the fact that neither could understand him. He stopped after a while and raised his eyes to the sky, as if to say 'Gods help me with these humans' and passed notes to each of the boys. Neville turned back to Wind, who had stepped closer in the meantime. She encircled him in her wings and placed her chin on top of his head and started to do what must've been the gryphon version of a purr. It wasn't really a sound, because Neville felt it more than heard it, and it wasn't really a purr because he was sure he had done nothing to make her particularly happy. He couldn't see much except for her short reddish fur, and being surrounded from all sides by a potentially deadly animal was starting to elicit a kind of panic attack. After being frozen in limbo between sleepiness and paralyzing fear, Neville realized that the strange purring was actually keeping the panic at bay. It reminded him a little of his grandmother's old cat, who was about as threatening as a pygmy puff.

_All there is right now..is..the earth, the grass, and Wind._

With his world consisting of only those three things, Neville decided to focus on the first two. He began to feel how the grass was mushed and tangled beneath his hands, how coarse it was, and how the occasional insect would make its way across a finger to get wherever it was going. Later, the steadiness of the earth itself pushed through the sensations of life on top of it and Neville could feel how it was solid all the way through.

"Cuddling up to the beast while the rest of us get injured, Longbottom?"

"At least I'm not stupid enough to piss them off, Malfoy."

Perhaps it was Draco's turn to be confused.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Ugh, this one took a while, mostly because I was worried it wouldn't make sense. But anyway, this chapter begins to..umm...validate (I guess) the title of this fanfic. And now, I'm not sure what the next chapter's gonna be like. *worried face*

Thank you to the lovely people whose words of encouragement keep me posting this stuff and a great big Hello to my international readers. And hugs for my beta. :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. If I did, Neville would've been the chosen one and Draco wouldn't have gotten an arbitrary wife.

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Chapter 3: Sun and Earth

"What is _she_ doing here?"

"Same thing as Golden Boy over there."

Arthur wasn't taking kindly to the presence of Pansy Parkinson. Harry, Ron and Hermoine he could handle, but seeing Malfoy yet again, this time with reinforcements, was a bit too much.

"Well _we're_ here to make sure Neville and Luna are okay. You never know with these things. Vicious, they are." Ron explained

Wind grumbled.

"I happen to be here out of academic curiosity. What does Drakie do to anger them so?" Pansy mused

Draco huffed but said nothing. He was within swatting distance of Gold's wing. Hermoine ignored all three of them, preferring to ask Wind about the magical abilities of gryphons. Harry vaguely wondered if theycan fly as well as Buckbeak and Neville simply sighed.

"Well if you don't mind, Neville, I'm going to go." Luna patted Neville on the shoulder

"Yeah. You go on."

Luna skipped away from the clearing into the forest, just as Pansy broke off her conversation with Gold.

"I've got some business to get to, Draco. See you at dinner."

"Fine, leave me here with the stupid people and rabid animals, Pansy. See if I care. Might not even make it to dinner."

_Wack_. The Malfoy sailed into a nearby bush, probably due to Gold's waning patience. The bush cushioned his fall for the most part, but his feet ended up sticking up, flailing wildly in his attempts to stand up. Everyone, with the exception of Pansy, who had left, laughed when his reddened face emerged, hair mussed and covered in leaves. Embarrassed, he tried to get up again, falling further into the bush instead. They only laughed harder. Draco Malfoy, perpetually immaculate in his appearance, had been reduced to looking like a drunk who had spent the night sleeping in the forest.

_His hair looks better when it's not slicked back._

Neville, still giggling, walked up to the panicking Slytherin, and pulled him up out of the bush. Draco immediately proceeded to smooth his robes and glare at the Gryffindors.

_Is that a flower?_

It looked like there might was a small yellow-and-white flower, like a daisy, stuck in Draco's hair.

"You know, you should be careful about falling into bushes next time. I'm sure they don't like it much." Neville picked a leaf out of Malfoy's hair, effectively silencing the trio.

_Yes, it's _definitely _a flower._

It fell out of his hair and onto his shoulder.

"Right, Neville. Snakes belong in caves, where it's dark and slimy." jeered Ron

"Oh hush, Ron." Hermoine smacked him

"What?"

Said snake simply fumed and, running a hand through his hair to remove the leaves, stomped out into the forest.

* * *

The terrified boy had left, unable to continue the lesson after the rest of his kind had gone back into the castle. The gryphons resumed their preening.

"How much success are we going to have with this set?"

"One cannot say. The scared one is going to prove difficult."

"So afraid of everyone, he can barely keep relationships."

"Indeed. And what of the bright-eyed one?"

"She will find her way soon enough, one hopes. The boy is progressing nicely as well."

"My other one is not. Stubborn as the spring snows."

"You've always liked the ones from the green House."

"But _this_ one refuses to listen. He's angry and undisciplined and he insists on getting his way always."

"One sees some of your spirit in him. It is fitting, isn't it?"

"That him and that other one will end up...?"

"Yes. One who has seen their hearts knows this."

"Hmm..And the other two. She doesn't deserve..."

"She will balance herself out. As certainly as the wind will fly east."

"One hopes."

* * *

"Umm...sorry 'bout that. They're not usually that...mean."

Draco was, interestingly enough, up a tree, one leg dangling off the branch, propping up an arm on the trunk. He looked like he was ignoring him in favor of staring out into the sun-drenched canopy, but Neville could tell otherwise. After a while...

"And what are they _usually_ like, Longbottom?" he sneered

Neville leaned back on a boulder that was halfway buried in the forest floor and stared at the bark.

"Well that depends..."

Draco just snorted.

"If you're brave like Harry or Seamus, they're really nice. Stick by you no matter what and all that."

"In case you didn't notice, Longbottom, you're not exactly the I-can-do-anything type."

"...No. No I'm not," he hung his head. "That's why I'm a bit on the outside, I suppose."

Neville sighed.

"It shouldn't surprise me though..." he said quietly, voice tinged with sadness

Malfoy gave Neville a very bored look.

"T' think I actually picked Gryffindor,"

He looked more interested now.

"The Sorting Hat wanted to put me in Hufflepuff, but I...I'd heard that Hufflepuff was the worst House. That if you're in it, you'd get beaten up. So I asked for Gryffindor...I think I regret that sometimes."

He slid out of the tree and extended his hand. Neville took it, searching the Malfoy's face for sincerity.

"Don't." he said


	4. Chapter 4

A/N:

Finally, chapter 4! Exams are over and I'm home and stuff, so it my muse is kind, I'll get some more writing done before I have to go work.

Thank you for your kind comments! They do help me keep going. Those wanting Harry/Luna in this story...well...I'm sorry. I do ship them, but i can't really write Harry.

A great big hello to my international readers, as usual. You're amazing.

A note on Slytherin dynamics: A while ago, I read an essay about how JK surprised everyone with the characterization of Ravenclaw House. How their House work in much the way fanfic writers imagined Slytherin House to function. So I asked myself: how DOES Slytherin work?

This chapter contains most of my answer to this question. If you find it incompatible with your view of canon...oh well. It makes more sense to me that the House work this way anyway. To me, it seems fitting.

Another note: If you follow the webcomic Skin Deep, all I have to say for this chapter is: ;)

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**Chapter 4: A Sign of the Times**

Neville decided to use all of his free time to wall himself behind a stack of books in the library. The Potions essay was due tomorrow, and with only half of it done, he was scrambling to find any information at all about the properties of Jub-jub bird feathers. Only one of the five bestiaries he picked up even _had_ an entry on it, and even then, it wasn't very useful.

_This is why I stick to plants..._

Just then, he felt his hand wash over in pain, flattened by a gargantuan tea-stained volume. _Wonders of the Land_ by Allifey McLorne - the book so unceremoniously dropped on him - belonged to Pansy Parkinson, who was now standing over him with a slight smile in her face.

"I couldn't find the Jub-jub bird either. Almost gave up until some scatter-brained Ravenclaw left it on the table next to mine," she proceeded to explain rapidly as she squeezed herself next to him. "Oh, scooch over already. Anyway, turns out Snape had decided to give us a lesson in history along with Potions. Jub-jub feathers hadn't been used in magic since the 1400s. Nobody's quite sure why. Apparently they had all disappeared or some such nonsense...why are you looking at me like that?"

Neville stared at Pansy bug-eyed and completely still, as though he was afraid that the Slytherin, true to her House's mascot, would strike him if he moved so much as an inch.

"Hellooo? Anybody home?" she waved her hand in front of his face

"...uh...why am I still alive? And... not hurting.. anywhere?"

Pansy sighed, "Oh..I suppose explanations are in order."

Neville nodded slowly, "Please."

"Well, ever since you saved Drakie from bleeding to death in that hallway, the House has been...uneasy about how to handle you. In general. But now that you've told him a secret...by our rules, you're practically one of us."

"Uh...what?"

Pansy adjusted herself nervously. "Our House laws...they were established by Slytherin students a while ago..We try to stay together by trading secrets and favours. It's how we make friends essentially. That way we can't betray each other to outsiders. You can never give away another Slytherin because chances are, they would have a secret about one of your friends and... Well you can guess what would happen. It all boils down to protecting ourselves from the other Houses, namely Gryffindor. There are loners of course...they end up getting a lot of the bullying."

"Don't pick on Gryffindor! You do quite a bit of bullying yourselves!"

"Yeah, it's a bit different now from what it was back then. But the laws have stayed. Kind of like how Ravenclaw's got that whole 'everybody for themselves' thing or you guys, where everyone's one big happy family. And _maybe_ if my friend Kenny hadn't gotten flushed down Moaning Myrtle's toilet first year, I wouldn't be quite so mean to all of you." Pansy gave him an evil smile

"So because I helped Malfoy and told him a secret, you've decided to actually talk to me."

"Yeah. Don't expect anyone to get too chummy though. I think that's beyond the scope of many of us."

"Can you at least do something about that git McLaggen?"

Pansy laughed. "I don't know, Longbottom.."

"Could you, I don't know, make his nose turn purple or something?"

"You know what?...Deal."

As Neville wrote the remainder of his essay, he wondered if this was like making a deal with Loki and whether it was going to backfire on him in some completely unexpected way.

Limping into the Forbidden Forest, Neville waved hello to Arthur, Malfoy and Pansy. Carefully lowering himself down next to Wind, he sighed and reminded himself for about the fiftieth time that day to go to Madame Pomfrey. He'd woken up with intense muscle cramps in both his legs that made it nearly impossible to walk down stairs without putting all his weight onto the railing. After a couple of classes, he walked a lot of it off, but that was three days ago and it didn't look like the remaining cramps were going away on their own. Wind looked him squarely in the eye, nudging his useless-looking legs with a great paw. He could swear she already knew.

"It hurts to move them. I know I should, but as soon as I stop walking they get worse...I'm going to the Hospital Wing after this. Madame Pomfrey should have something for cramps."

Wind cooed. After a few chirps and other noises spoken to Gold, she passed Neville a note. Inside was a list of ingredients and some simple instructions, written in Gold's broken English. Wind cooed again and pressed her forehead to his. Neville realized that he had most of the list in his greenhouse, but a few ingredients were too rare. He'd have to get them from the school's Potions stores. And that meant talking to Professor Snape.

He gulped.

_I can't talk to him. He'll just...glare...send me to the Hospital Wing probably...to not waste his ingredients...why should I bother...jus' go to Madame Pomfrey._

Wind started to purr again, like she did on his very first day. Neville found himself centering, focusing on the ground. His mind cleared, leaving him with a strong feeling of the wide earth beneath him...and an idea.

He disconnected himself from Wind and looked over at Gold. Arthur was standing in front of him with his eyes closed, holding a tall branch with both hands, like a staff or a sword. Gold was looking up at the boy like a general would look at a young recruit. Draco was off to the side, reading a (rather lengthy) note. Neville took a cleansing breath and looked back at Wind.

"Wish me luck."

Wind nodded, concealing an uncharacteristically sly look by shifting herself back. Neville stood up and slowly made his way to where Draco was fuming.

"Ummm..D-Draco?"

Neville abruptly halted at his cold eyes.

"I...kind of need your help. Wind gave this...salve to make...and I don't have everything..."

Draco snatched up the list and frowned.

"Fine. Your wobbling around was getting awfully embarrassing anyway."

Neville wondered how many other people knew what had happened. After all, he'd told no one. And why hadn't they said anything?

_Perhaps_, Neville thought, _this is progress._

They were in the greenhouse, plants pushed to the sides to make room for the small table. Draco had 'borrowed' it from the Divination classroom after he'd decided it was safer to brew here, where few people would look for him. He'd cluttered it with all manner of instruments while Neville readied his portion of the list. Thankfully, nothing had to be dried. Gryphon magic, he remembered Hermoine telling him, always relies on things that can be found and prepared within minutes, which is why they don't need anything like a wand and why gryphon-made amulets are so rare. Straightening himself out, Neville placed the last herb bundle on the table, were Draco was already readying a small mortar. Some herbs were destined to be ground, others diced, still others, juiced – all mixed together in one bowl until they formed a light green lumpy mush. The simplicity of it was really astounding. Neville supposed he could have made it himself if it weren't for some of the more exotic plant parts.

Draco, still frowning, shoved the mixture into Neville's hands.

"There. Hope it works. You hold everyone up on the stairs."

Neville took off his top robe, rolled up his sleeves, and yanked his pants up to his knees to apply it. The table and all the supplies disappeared with the sound of falling plates. He turned his head just in time to catch Draco's eyes become stormy, wand suddenly in hand. He turned on his heels and flew out of the greenhouse, leaving Neville to wonder how close one had to be to Severus Snape to pick up that particular mannerism.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: I'm terribly sorry for the long delay. I've had work and babysitting eat up all my time. Also, I can't write Ron too well.

Thank you to all to reviewed this story, and as always, hello to all my international readers.

* * *

Chapter 5: 1392

Weeks passed by and Neville discovered that Slytherins are not that hard to get along with once you get used to their way of thinking. They tended to be all-or-nothing people – if you were their friend, they'd defend you fiercely, to hell with everyone else. Amongst each other, they were brutally honest, a fact that he learned one day when Blaise marched down into the common room and announced to the entire House that he doesn't get along with Kieth Falwell anymore and would punch him in the face the next time he saw him (Neville never did figure out why Blaise was so ticked off). The downside, of course, was that they held no love for outsiders and could behave towards them any way they wished. Surrounded by some of the uneasy stares of the more paranoid (because there was no such thing as not paranoid) Slytherins, Neville gradually realized how much of a step forward his relative acceptance was for the House.

As such, he'd decided to keep his new friends secret, especially from Benny and Ron. Those two disliked anyone wearing a green scarf automatically. Which is why Ron's unexpected visit to the gryphons' grove, was such an unpleasant surprise.

"Hey, mate, um I need your help."

"Sure, Ron." Neville grew uneasier by the second

"Y'see, I want to ask Hermoine out and I wanted to give her a flower of some kind. Something really wicked, you know? I tried to grow some Chinese snapdragons, since they make fireworks and all, but...you know I'm bad with plants."

"How did you care for them, maybe I can give you some tips..."

"No, mate. D'you have something in your greenhouse I could use? Please?"

"I don't know...hmm." Neville's nightvine was having a bad case of white rot, so it was a while since he'd payed full attention to his flowering plants.

"Don't you have a dwarf faery tree somewhere, Neville?" Pansy said, not even bothering to look up from her game of Exploding Snap with Blaise

"Oh yeah! I can give you that, Ron. The one that glows pink would be good."

Ron gave both of them an odd look, and asked Neville to bring it to him before dinner.

* * *

"What the hell are you doing, Loony?"

"Oh, hi Pansy. I'm trying to see the wind."

Pansy shook her head.

"Don't you have anything better to do? Like go hunt for giant floating watermelons or something?"

"Wind told me to look for this stone, but I decided to rest for a bit. Did you get that book?"

Pansy shivered.

"Yeah. Dunno where you found it."

Luna laughed her usual airy far-away laugh.

"History section."

"Hm. Did you know it was written in 1392?"

"No. Is that a special year?"

"No, but...Mum traces back her witch ancestry to about that year. Made me think of crazy Aunt Meredith."

Her pale blue eyes remained turned towards the sky, as though looking beyond it. She looked strangely like a beached mermaid, splayed upon the green hill, white-blond hair spread around her head like the rays of the sun or the tentacles of a jellyfish. Pansy looked for a bit before laying down next to her. Staring up at the sky,

"I can't see anything."

Luna took her hand and pointed to her right, and Pansy could've sworn that she saw a light ribbon of yellow, melting into the sky so quickly that she would've missed it if she had blinked. It was then that she decided that if anyone could ever actually _see_ the wind, it would be Loony Lovegood.

* * *

"How does Pug-faced Parkinson know what's in your greenhouse? Did she break in or something?" Ron was justifiably curious

"Um..well...y'see...we're kind of friends now."

"What?" Ron looked like his brain flat-out refused to process this information

"Yeah, she comes around to see Draco and we all talk and she's not that bad once you get to know her."

"You _talked_ to her? And since when is he _Draco_?"

"He helped me make some salve the other day..so..."

Neville's face turned warm with guilt, a funny magenta-like colour not at all like the pink of embarrassment. Ron stared for a moment.

"You should be careful, Nev. Could just all be some ruse."

Ron walked away in his usual loose stagger. It took Hermoine showing off the glowing tree in the darkened common room after dinner for Ron to remember to thank Neville.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Guess what, guys? I made an event list! I am on a ROLL Hopefully this means I'll be updating more often.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. If I did, Harry would have died at the end...

* * *

**Chapter 6: Red and Gold**

Neville walked briskly into the gryphon's grove, spurred on by the chilly air. The first breaths of autumn, so accurately predicted by his grandmother, have long been replaced by constant cold. Nature herself seemed to reflect the clash of the Houses within Hogwarts, which were now growing more and more frequent with the cold weather keeping more students inside. Indeed, the yellow, red, and brown leaves standing defiant against the gray and moody sky, looked all too accurate.

Neville stood still for a moment to appreciate the changes autumn had wrought on the grove. He didn't expect, however, those changes to include Draco talking to Gold. He sat under Gold's right wing, whispering into his ear. As soon as he spotted Neville, he abruptly turned away from the gryphon. Neville didn't have much time to ponder this odd behaviour before he felt something tugging on his sleeve. He turned to find Arthur holding onto his robes, his head bowed low enough to hide his face.

"What's wrong, Arthur?"

"N-nothing's wrong...I'm just..not doing to well in Herbology. I was wondering...could you help me?"

"Oh! Of course! When do you want to start?"

"Umm...how about tomorrow, after dinner. In the library."

"Okay, see you there."

Arthur walked off towards the castle, today's visit to Gold seemingly over.

Neville was genuinely surprised. Arthur never did too well in his subjects, but has never, to Neville's knowledge, asked anyone for help.

_Perhaps Gold's tutoring is doing him some good. Even if it is a bit...aggressive._

Neville made his way to Wind for his centering lesson. He'd started practicing it every day, ever since Hermione mentioned that his shyness had gotten much better.

* * *

Wind had suddenly told him, in note-form, to take a walk in the forest, but he was pretty sure this wasn't what she had in mind. Neville stood at the bottom of a large bumpy-looking tree, looking with wide-eyed dismay at a grumpy, suspended-in-mid-air Malfoy, whose wand perched precariously in the crook of the branch below him. Draco folded his arms and glared back.

"Stop your gaping, Longbottom, and help me out!"

Neville held back any witty references to his own mid-air-suspension incident and started climbing up the tree. It proved more difficult than he thought, as the flaky bark threatened to worm its way into his skin every time he touched it. He finally plopped himself onto the thick branch right underneath Draco's dangling feet. Brushing the bark from his hands, Neville rescued Draco's wand and stood up to get a better look at why the so-called Slytherin Prince was stuck up a tree. It turned out that a small but very sharp shoot had pierced the thick backing of his robe, likely saving Draco from falling onto the branch that Neville was currently standing on. Neville took out his own wand and carefully levitated the Malfoy up and then down onto the tree limb.

"Could've done that from down there." Draco said, but his voice was too quiet to sound truly annoyed

He sat down, immediately turned up his palms, and started picking bits of bark out of them. They had cut into his skin deeply enough for him to flinch when he took out one of the larger ones.

"Here, let me help."

Neville took one of Draco's hands and started removing the bark as cautiously as he could. Concentrated on this task, he found himself inadvertently centering like Wind taught him to, feeling the ground that was far below, the strong tree cradling them both. Draco could only stare, as if petrified, at Neville's face, stifling the signs of protest he would usually automatically show. He managed to look away just as Neville was finishing.

"There. A few of those might bleed for a while."

"I know."

Neville was ready to climb off the branch, when he remembered.

"Here's your wand."

Draco's eyes flickered from his face to the wand for a moment, but he took it swiftly and silently. Before Neville could apologize, he turned and, holding onto Neville's shoulder, wordlessly accio-ed something red off a higher branch. He quickly pocketed it and jumped down, leaving Neville with nothing to do but notice how Draco Malfoy made falling look like effortless flight.

* * *

Neville woke up the next day to a cold and dreary morning. There was barely enough light coming from his window to light his corner of the room, and definitely not enough heat to make him want to get out of bed. Nevertheless, he pulled himself up, out of his warm cocoon of flannel blankets and stretched, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

_Wait..._

He never left the curtains of his window drawn. Otherwise, the moon would shine through it, waking him up in the middle of the night. He turned to check whether the light was indeed coming from his window.

There, on the windowsill, sat a red, round fruit about the size of his fist, with small blue splotches on it. He sat for another five minutes, dumbly looking at the object, wondering how long it would take him to wake up.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Sorry for the delay :( Thankfully I have my plan, so I didn't lose the idea.

Thank you to all my readers. Thank you for your reviews. Feel free to ask questions if you want. :)

Disclaimer: If I owned HP, Neville/Draco would be canon.

* * *

**Chapter 7: Glass**

Neville had combined his frustrated searching with Arthur's daily Herbology lessons, but it took days to figure out what the mysterious fruit was. In a freak coincidence, he'd been looking for some extra material to explain the mechanics of plant growth to Arthur, when he found a reference to it. He'd then, in his excitement, abandoned Arthur to study on his own, reading everything about he could pick up on the strange plant. Arthur, along with the rest of the Hufflepuffs, only saw him the next morning.

"You will never believe what this is!" he started explaining

"What is it Neville?" asked Mary calmly

"It's the fruit of the Gandering Sea-Eucalyptus!"

Benny looked severely confused, Arthur's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates, while Mary simply froze mid-speech.

"What?" Arthur managed to say

"It's really rare to see it this far up north. They grow all along the Mediterranean coast because they need warm sea-water to survive. Apparently, there have been few attempts to grow it because catching the fruit is so difficult!"

"Wait, _catching_ the fruit?" Mary regained her speech

"Yeah, it floats." Neville produced a glass jar from his robes. The reddish fruit was suspended inside. "When it eventually settles, it explodes, letting the seeds float down to earth. If they hit water, they germinate."

"How'd you get a hold of it?" asked Benny

"I didn't. It just showed up on my windowsill one morning, in this jar."

Arthur looked away, as though lost in thought. Turning back to Neville he quietly said that he wanted to see him after breakfast. They spent the rest of the meal eating with gusto, prodding the glass jar, and discussing today's awful lesson schedule.

* * *

"What did you need to talk to me about?" asked Neville

He started on his way down to Charms, while Arthur had History of Magic. They were pushing past noisy students – the perfect cover.

"It's...well..." Arthur shrunk away from a rather large Ravenclaw, "The fruit. I think I know where it came from."

Neville looked at Arthur's downcast head with surprise.

"I stayed up late in the library. Before Madam Pince kicked me out...well, I saw someone flying outside."

"Who..?"

"I'm pretty sure it was Malfoy. The hair." Arthur absently ran a hand through his. "Whoever he was, he had that jar with him."

Neville spent the rest of his walk to class telling himself that there was no way Draco would do something that Gryffindor-ish.

* * *

The Great Hall proved too loud for Pansy to handle today. She'd woken up with a headache from a lack of sleep, and by lunchtime, she did not want to deal her schoolmates' banter in the least. Quickly finishing the last of her soup, she walked briskly out of the hall and outside. She plopped herself down on the hill, made familiar by her frequent visits this year. Her headache eased somewhat, so she closed her eyes, enjoying the breeze and a rare moment to herself.

_Maybe Nev's on to something. This is actually quite relaxing..._

She didn't know how long she was on that hill before she heard softly-shifting grass near her. Opening her eyes lazily, she rolled her head towards the direction of the sound and saw that Luna had decided to visit their favourite spot again.

Luna didn't say anything. She just sat down and propped her elbows up on her knees. Eventually, Pansy sat up too. Both watched the clouds roll by in silence. Then, Luna stretched out her hand. A small glowing ball appeared in her palm, floating, then reforming itself, shifting in shape. It settled on the shape of a tiny bird, losing its glow, and solidifying into a small glassy blue bird. The bird fluttered its wings, chirped and lifted off into the air. Pansy watched it fly in front of them, a look of surprise and joy carefully hidden in her eyes. The bird flew around some more, before settling on Pansy's shoulder. It chirped and sat down. Luna just looked at it and laughed quietly.

Pansy stared at it in vague amazement, only to find her attention shifting to the little bird's creator. She suddenly felt blood rush up, making her face feel feverish with warmth; her body started to feel awkward and shaky.

_No._

She turned around and settled her chin on her knees, deciding to look at the grass instead.


	8. Chapter 8

A/n: Short chapter guys. I had bad writer's block for a while. I basically forced myself to finish this one. Finals took a lot outta me :(

Chapter 8: The Calm

How anyone was able to finish breakfast this morning is a complete mystery. Even Ron, who regularly cleared off multiple plates, positively stuffing food into his maw, had trouble eating. The food was not the problem, of course (that was delicious as always). No, the issue was Cormac McLaggen's face, which, upon entering the Great Hall, was decorated with a newly-purple nose. And not just any purple – shining, glowing, neon purple that reminded most of the Muggle-born students of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (they laughed the hardest). Had it been anyone else from their House, the Gryffindors would have risen up in righteous indignation, but since this was Cormac, not even they cared much. A rare moment of concord between all the Houses. Neville, between chuckles, looked over at Pansy with wide eyes, as if to say _Did you really?_ But Pansy looked back and shook her head. It was none of her doing.

* * *

Neville had progressed to meditating on his own. Though this meant that he was no longer dependent on Wind's presence, and she was very proud of him, Neville was somewhat saddened by this.

"I'll keep visiting, I promise!" he assured her

She simply looked at him and nuzzled his shoulder. She was like a mother figure to him by now, her presence soothing and homey, even if she was three times his size and covered with fur and feathers. Likewise, she saw him as her child too, in a sense. Small, vulnerable, but with the seeds of character that will make him great. Parting will be difficult, but every hatchling has to leave the nest some day.

Neville noticed that the grove was quiet, except for the sounds of the forest. He looked over at Gold and found him laying down on the ground, head resting on his front paws, one wing drooping open slightly. Arthur and Draco must have left.

Neville got up, seeing Pansy approaching them. She leaned against a tree with the smuggest expression he'd seen from her yet, and motioned to Gold. The gryphon's giant wing was draped over Draco, who was fast asleep.

"He's getting better." Pansy said quietly

"I guess he is.." Neville said, "By the way, do you know who jinxed Cormac yet?"

Pansy shook her head, "No idea." Neville sighed and sat down to play with the grass. Pansy looked back at Draco. He'd been a little less of a prat lately, a little more relaxed. Whatever his complaints, Gold was a good influence. And maybe Neville too. He'd been handling the situation better than Draco, and she guessed that Draco finally had some motivation to behave. That and being in the same boat as someone like Nev, someone trusting.

She looked at Neville. He was strong, she knew now. Quiet strength, not the flashy bravery of the rest of his House. Maybe someone in Slytherin had paid Cormac back for him. She _had_ told Draco about how he bullied Neville. But he didn't seem particularly interested. Maybe someone else in the Common Room overheard.

Draco's face changed into a serious-looking frown. Pansy sat down with her back against the tree.

_What if...what if..._

And then it all made sense.

* * *

By the end of the day, the whole school was singing the Rudolph song, including the 'Death-Eater children'. It had been passed off to them as a new song from America. Those in the know chuckled quietly behind their books. A subtle victory.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Firestorm

Neville had to really bundle up to go to the grove now. Snow hadn't hit the castle yet, but the cold was getting deep and enduring, the kind of cold that clung to you, promising a long winter and ice. Most of the leaves had fallen and the sky only briefly shows through the blanket of clouds, now lighter gray than the rain-burdened canopy of a month ago. Button-up shirts gave way to vests and sweaters. Boots were quickly becoming fur-lined. He was glad his scarf, which had grown flimsy with years of use, was long enough to wind several times. He found himself wearing the transfigured sweater more often; he found that, to his amazement, he grew out of his reddish one, which left about three others, one of which was so itchy, he'd only wear it as a last resort. Thankfully, he'd packed his vests too.

The day wasn't sunny, but thankfully, he could see some sky. The grove was visible from a greater distance than before, so he could see Wind dozing amongst the naked trees, looking even larger than usual thanks to puffed up feathers and fur. It didn't take long for Neville to wonder where Gold was. He walked up to Wind, placing a tentative hand on her head. She awoke almost instantly, puffing up her feathers a bit more against the cold.

"Where's Gold?"

She shifted her front paws and looked up, with a searching look, towards the sky. Neville looked up as well, just in time to make out a dark spot moving quickly under the clouds. It hid behind the trees, but reappeared shortly after, much lower this time. Gold was riding the currents, powerful wings spread out fully. Neville could make out Arthur sitting on the gryphon's back, holding on but happily yelling out into the sky.

"How...?"

Wind gently tapped his shoulder with her beak. He could only guess, he realized, what kind of an experience these past few months have been for Arthur.

"Thank you...both of you." he hugged Wind as she cooed back

* * *

Walking back with Pansy, Arthur, and Draco might not have been the best idea, in retrospect. They must have looked very odd, walking the halls together, the Slytherins on either side, with Pansy discussing the flight with Arthur, gesturing with her arms wildly, while Neville listened to Draco's latest complaints with the patience of a saint, occasionally interrupting him to explain the situation from the target's point of view, to which Draco would respond with a glare into the distance and a skeptical 'hmmm'. Luck was not on their side that day; Ron, Harry and Hermoine had taken the other way from Care of Magical Creatures. Both groups stopped dead in their tracks when they noticed the other. Hermoine and Neville both sensed that a fight would be very likely. She placed a hand on both boys' arms in hopes of steadying their tempers. Neville, similarly, put a hand on Draco's shoulder, noticing that the latter had already drawn his wand.

"Well, well, the Boy Who Wouldn't Die-"

"I'm not in the mood for you Malfoy," Harry said in a mock-tired tone

"Don't start now," Hermoine pulled back on Harry "We have work to do, _remember_?"

Draco sneered.

"Oh don't bother 'moine, the snake isn't gonna try anything this time. Look at 'im. He remembers how I throttled 'im last time."

Used to always being the one to gloat, Draco didn't let that slide. Eyes narrowed in anger, he swung his wand forward, producing a jet of fire from the end. It would have barreled straight into Ron, if not for Pansy's "No!-" and Neville jerking his hand backwards. The fire splashed across the nearby wall harmlessly. A narrow miss. Hermoine pushed her friends down an adjacent hall to avoid retaliation. Pansy and Arthur ran to see if any teachers were nearby. Neville froze where he stood.

Finding himself unusually close to the Malfoy wiped all concern about being caught from his mind. His heart seized up. Draco himself looked like he had returned to normal, anger dissipated now that the trio had left. Neville eventually snapped back into reality.

"What were you _thinking_?" he asked

Draco regained focus.

"None of your business." he murmured and drew his shoulder away

It was then that Neville decided that he should avoid getting too close to the Slytherin Prince. Who knows what kind of trouble he'd get himself into?

* * *

Neville had assumed that the sea-eucalyptus would sprout only when it had stopped floating and hit the bottom of the jar. The fruit, however, had other things in mind. Small fuzzy purple shoots had grown from the top, and, by the looks of it, would continue to grow for the rest of the fruit's flotation time, reaching the ground before the main body of the fruit itself. So Neville was left with nothing to do but scour the library yet again for what to plant the fruit in. Enlisting Pansy this time, he looked for anything regarding warm-water plants, as well as the few entry on the sea-eucalyptus itself.

"So are we done yet?" asked Pansy after the third hour of research

"Hmmm...just about. I'm guessing I need dirt with seaweed fertilizer and water with a low salt content, a yellow light source-"

"Do you need any more books, I mean?"

"No, just put this one back." he handed her _Herbology Annual 1934-1956_, still entirely absorbed in his notes

Sighing, Pansy walked back to the periodicals section. She found a girl already there, trying to push a book back onto a shelf too high for her to reach.

_Idiot.._ Pansy returned the herbology book and was about to leave.

"Oh, Pansy, would you mind helping me?"

Luna, it seemed, had decided that Pansy, who was slightly shorter than her, would have better luck reaching the shelf.

_Oh. Of course. It _would_ be you, wouldn't it.._ Pansy thought with some amusement. Only loopy absent-minded Luna, in her mind, could be forgiven for forgetting that the bookshelves were just as magical as the rest of the school. Pansy set the book near the shelf and it flew into place.

"Thank you." Luna said cheerily and planted a kiss right on Pansy's cheek.

Heat rose to Pansy's face. Pushing Luna away, she stumbled back, knocking her own bag over.

"G-get away from me!" was all she could manage before breaking into a run


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Snow

Winter did not wait long. Within the next three weeks, the last of the leaves had fallen and the lake had frozen over. The first snow started to fall on the castle, a welcome change from the dreary grayness. The gryphons had moved to a small hut for the winter. Hagrid made it as cave-like and natural he could, but found that the gryphons stuck evergreen branches and hung strings of feathers on the walls. The four 'students' got to see what a true eyrie looked like: an enormous nest cushioned on the inside with moss and molted feathers saved up from autumn, lined with gold, silver, and iron trinkets. A strip of leather was woven into the nest, from which a small amulet was suspended. Neville sensed magic emanating from it, as he was sure could the others. It made him feel safe. Draco in particular seemed drawn to it, and ended up almost stealing the thing. Gold growled at him before he had a chance to remove it.

Meanwhile, the shoots on the mysterious floating fruit grew into long vine-like feelers that, unlike the rest of the fruit, obeyed the laws of gravity. Neville, deciding to keep a log of what happened as he tried to grow this plant, guessed that this was how the fruit eventually settled down into a new location. Arthur, on the other hand, was convinced that they were solely to make the plant look creepy so nothing eats it.

* * *

"Stop tapping on the glass, it's not gonna move." Neville brought the plant with him to the Slytherin common room, only to have Goyle incessantly ask him questions about it while poking the glass.

"How do you know?"

"Because it's not known to move. It just floats."

"Well you don't know if it moves at this stage, do you Longbottom?" Draco casually sat down next to Vincent

"How d'you mean?"

"Do you know that much about it?"

"Well, no. No one does."

"So maybe it does move."

"Maybe."

His look of smug satisfaction did not bode well. Before Neville could take the jar away, Draco lifted it slightly off the table and stuck his finger through the neck, reaching the tip of the longest feeler. After poking it, the feeler suddenly sprung to life, winding itself around his finger. Draco let out a small yelp and slammed the jar back down.

"See? It definitely moves."

"Huh. So it does." Neville jotted down a note in the margin of his parchment.

"I should get a mention. When you get that thing published," Draco said, pointing at the parchment

"Oh of course. Your inability to keep your fingers away from potentially dangerous plants will be duly noted." Neville said as Vincent laughed. Draco sat back, still thoroughly pleased with himself.

* * *

The snow had been going for two days, thickening the layer of white until trees looked like they were covered in clouds. Rowdier students threw snowballs at each other, a few banded together to make a giant snowman, with a smile and a crooked nose. When the Weasley twins found it, they quickly disappeared into the Gryffindor dormitory, and came back a few hours later with what looked like a black mop that was of course placed on the snowman's head. Snow-Snape lasted a whole two hours before his inspiration came to destroy him. Neville was actually able to watch the destruction, albeit at a certain distance, wishing he had his camera to immortalize the moment.

He was at the gryphon's hut with the rest of the four when Xiao Li appeared, uncharacteristically disheveled and distressed.

"Come...come...with me" she panted, turned around and ran in the direction she came from. All four followed her to a small clearing near the hut, where Benny's angry yelling was bouncing off the trees.

"What's going on?" Neville, knowing Benny, immediately started talking to distract him

"Y'see them?" Benny had his wand drawn and pointed squarely at the de Lacroix twins, who looked unperturbed

"Put down your wand, and tell me what's going on." Arthur said

"They they! Told me I won't be an Auror! Bloody quacks!"

"Did you ask them about it?" Neville said slowly

"Yeah. They're supposed the be the fortune-tellers right? So I asked 'em. And they go and tell me that I won't get in. Me! I work my arse off in school and they go and tell me I won't get in." he was crying now

"You don't know Benny, maybe that means you'll get some other job. Something better."

"Oh shut up! Just shut up!" he swung his wand at Neville, "I wanted to be an Auror my whole life and you say 'somewhere better'! You're just like them!"

Benny swung the wand again, yelling out a spell through his tears. Arthur and Luna were safely out of the way, but Neville had no time. The spell was aimed right at him. Bright orange tore through his side and he fell backwards into the snow. Time stood still for a moment and the snow stopped in midair, floating like the gaudy fruit he was trying to grow. Then, just as quickly, he heard Arthur spring into action, yelling louder than he'd thought possible, at Benny who froze in horror at his own actions.

"You should be ashamed of yourself! Look at what you've done! What the bloody hell were you thinking!" Arthur continued yelling as he grabbed Benny by the arm and dragged him in the direction of the castle.

Luna bent down to check Neville's side and after a quick 'it's not that bad, I'll be right back' ran off to get Madame Pomfrey. Neville tried to move, but his side stung badly. There was movement behind him and soon Draco's face came into view. He had been partially hit by the spell too, having leaned in with a 'protego' whispered too late to be effective. He checked the wound, which looked like a deep curvy scratch, and patted it with a handful of snow.

"Here. This should be good until you get to the Hospital Wing."

He produced a small vial from his robes, opened it and treated the wound. The bleeding lessened and the pain dulled away to an ache.

"Thank you," Neville sat up and noticed the smell of the mixture, "You've been through my stores again, haven't you?"

"Yes I have. I've gotten much better at breaking in." he smirked

"Ugh, you idiot. If you need something, just ask!"

"Where's the fun in that?"

And just like that Neville broke the promise he'd made himself right before the snows.

_That was short-lived..._ he thought briefly. Stuck way too close to each other, both froze. Neville found that the gray eyes he was studying were getting closer and closer. His breath hitched and...

Suddenly he was gone. Somehow, he was already far in the distance, standing out against the snow. Neville was left numb, trying to process what just happened. Only when Luna and Madame Pomfrey arrived, about five minutes late, did it finally hit him that the Malfoy heir's been afraid of being too close as well.

* * *

A/N: Depriving myself of puzzleshipping fanfiction until I get to spring on this thing. Waiting out the writer's block isn't working, so I've decided to use the pickaxe instead.

Thank you to all my readers! 3 3 3


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: I guess the pick-axe doesn't really work unless you actually pick it up. Darn.

Oh well. Thank you to my readers! Love ya all! This one's just in time for Valentine's Day, if you celebrate it.

Comments are appreciated and huggled extensively. :)

* * *

**Chapter 11: Hush**

History of Magic is never, ever exciting. Listening to the ghost drone on about the mermaid revolution of 1578 put just about the whole class in a mind-numbing state. Gregory was playing with his quill, Vincent was drawing, Cho was staring into space, and Draco was asleep. Pansy, just as bored as everyone else, caught herself staring at Luna from across the room. She was barely paying attention, blank parchment curling around her elbow as she chewed on the tip of her quill. In her memory, Pansy remembered sunnier days when they'd shared the grassy hill, when sunlight still shot through the trees and fell on her hair, so she looked away, pushing away the saddened pang in her chest. Giving up on history entirely, she chose to try her hand at spellcrafting again; her mother had been brilliant at it when she was in school.

At the end of the lecture, all she had ended up with was a possible spell for light

_Setatus_

based off a note scribbled in the margins of the book she'd found on the Jubjub bird. All it had said was _"seta – to light"_, but it had gotten stuck somewhere in the back of her mind.

_Utterly useless_. She thought with distaste, as she gathered her things.

* * *

The older students finished setting up the warming spells just in time. The lake had begun to freeze over, so naturally the common room was getting truly cold. Some first years made a semicircle in front of the fireplace, holding mugs of hot tea, happy to be out of the chilly dungeon corridors. Draco sat near the middle of the room, reading his Transfiguration textbook, looking bored enough to fall asleep again. Pansy waltzed in, plopping herself down near him.

"_Finally_ they got this place liveable!"she gave an almighty sigh

Draco closed his book and tossed it aside, bringing his hand to rest over an eye.

"I don't know why they didn't do it sooner. Been giving me a headache for days."

"You sound like Snape."

"Ugh. Whatever. How's it been? And where's Greg? I swear, he better not have gotten himself in trouble again."

"Yeah, Greg's got detention. For stealing food from the kitchen. I think a 'puff ratted him out." Pansy smiled

"Good Gods, does he ever learn?"

"You know he doesn't."

Draco rubbed his forehead absently and closed his eyes. Pansy scooted over.

"You're depressed again. I can tell." she said in a hushed tone

"Leave me alone."

"What's wrong?"

"I _said_ - "

"No. You know you can carry on for weeks like this if you don't talk to anybody. So you might as well bloody tell me."

"Guh. It's none of your business, Parkinson."

She leaned away in surprise, but soon straightened herself.

"Tell 'im."

"What?"

"You know what I'm talking about. Tell. Him."

Draco turned to face her. She gave him a pointed look.

"You don't know if you don't try."

"You haven't exactly made _your_ move either!" he sneered

Pansy was left alone on the couch, staring at her toes. She did a lot of her own forehead-clutching that evening.

* * *

She found herself in front of the lake, when she should have been at lunch. The winter sun squeezed through the white clouds, making the snow glimmer at times. Despite everything, the snow, the sun, the ice, the lake remained completely black. She could barely make out her reflection in it. Her robes and her hair melded with the frozen lake-water, leaving only her pale face. It seemed to float just beneath the surface, looking ghostly and sad. Pansy tried her best not to fall.

She suddenly heard the sound of crunching snow behind her, but before she could move away, two arms slipped around her waist. Someone was hugging her.

"Look. Now we can see you."

She looked at the lake. Luna's hair was always frizzier than hers. Now it formed a kind of halo, and Pansy's face no longer looked like it was floating on its own. Luna rested her chin on her shoulder and smiled at their reflection. And Pansy's face no longer looked quite so sad.

She stood there, torn between wanting to sob and wanting to lean back just a little more.

* * *

A/N: I swear i did not mean to make Pansy/Luna a thing. It just... happened. *armwaving* I don't even know.

I guess I have a subconscious need to stick lesbians in everything.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12: The Gates of Spring**

Classes grew more and more intense as the winter progressed. Every subject seemed to be getting relentlessly more difficult, even Divination. Neville had barely any time to visit his greenhouse anymore. Lessons at the gryphons' nest felt like the mental equivalent of a nap. Wind would shake her head at the beginning of every lesson, and comment on the stressful lives of young humans. He was truly glad he was with her those days, as her "releasing" exercises, while difficult, were preferable to Gold's "armour" approach. At least he thought so.

Arthur, however, continued to thrive. Neville saw him one day, sitting outside, holding hands with Mary.

_Finally gathered the spirit to do it,_ Neville thought. The pride he felt for his friend was tempered, only slightly, by the weight of his own secret.

_But that's different. We're different._

It drew his heart down, making him just a touch sadder with each passing day. He only hoped that the rejuvenation of spring would wipe away his feelings entirely.

* * *

"How long will the cold last?"

"Not much longer. One can already see the clouds breaking."

"This is good. The green will help."

"You know what else will come with spring.."

"One can feel it in the very air of this place. Heaviness will descend. But there will be happiness too."

"One hopes there will be enough to balance."

"Leaving them will be hard."

"It's always hard to see them away."

"Harder this time. Because they've grown so much."

"There will be more. But no one will blame us if we grieve our empty nest this time. There will be no shame in it."

"If only we could fill it with our own."

"One does no ask the spring for more than one's share."

The gryphons arranged their wings to sleep.

* * *

Neville watched the fruit slowly move up and down in the jar. It floated closer to the bottom now, having started its descent as soon as it wasn't quite as cold. Its strange colouration looked more ominous than silly in the light of the moon. He knew he should be in bed, but he had poultices to make that could only be done tonight and he wouldn't be able to sleep anyway. The night was clear and cold, but he remained outside, behind his greenhouse, sitting on the ground, resting his head on the table he'd brought out. The fruit's feelers bobbed up and down in a steady rhythm, numbing Neville's mind almost entirely.

"Hey."

It took a second to process that someone was speaking to him. It clearly wasn't Filch, so Neville slowly lifted his head and turned around. Draco stood there, looking tired and somewhat out of his element. He shifted his weight around and then took a seat next to Neville, resting his chin on the table.

"Hey." Neville finally answered back. "What're you doing here?"

He got no answer for a long time. Then, Draco gave a short sigh and started moving the jar around with his finger.

"This was once mine, you know. Got it off some old witch with about fifteen walking sunflowers in her house. Don't remember her name now. I'd almost lost it that day I got stuck. Up that tree, remember?"

Neville's mind was no longer sluggish. Sure, he suspected that Draco was indeed the one Arthur had seen, but he always pushed those thoughts away. He didn't even dare to hope.

"Why? Why give me this?" he breathed

More silence.

"Because...because I..." Draco turned away but then turned back to stare at the fruit sourly, as though everything was its fault. His face fluttered between a scowl and stony neutrality.

"I just..." he could not say more, but his hand slowly made its way to Neville's. The touch was incredibly light, as though Neville's hand was some sleeping monster he had to steady himself against, but not awaken. Neville himself flushed pink, hearing his heartbeat in his ears. Draco might have withdrawn his hand, had Neville not gotten a hold of himself in time. He shifted himself and placed his head on Draco's shoulder. Both breathed more easily than they had in a long time.

"Hey Draco."

"Yeah?"

"When this thing drops, let's grow it together."

"Mmhmm."

They watched the moon hang amongst the stars and thanked the Gods for hope.

* * *

A/N: So I've finally hit spring. Which means that there's 2-3 chapters left. Home stretch guys!

Thank you to my international readers, those who reviewed and those who have stuck with this for this long. I adore you all! :)


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13: What Parvati Patil Knows**

Warmth broke through the gloom slowly, but the school seemed to celebrate every sign of oncoming spring with gusto. Everyone was glad to be able to go outside again and, at least temporarily, the usual feuds paused to allow for it. Excitement rose even more when it was announced that the school will be holding a Beltaine Ball, open to all students. No one questioned why it was happening; a few had their suspicions. Neville was especially thankful for the change, as his Slytherin and Hufflepuff friends became slightly more relaxed. He continued meeting with Draco in secret behind the greenhouse. They talked often, and worked quite frequently, either on Draco's potion ideas or their plant. When it had warmed up significantly, the fruit finally stopped floating altogether, at which point, they were ready with a large bowl of seawater, algae, and mud. Draco had rolled his eyes at how particular Neville had been with the proportions, but soon learned not to argue with Neville when it came to his plants. Every "Gods, you act like they're your _babies_ or something" was rewarded with a half-hearted smack and a glare. In the end it didn't matter – he always found a way to make it up to him.

Soon, however, the boys had to worry about something worse than plants or tiffs or getting caught: girls. The older ones started asking boys to the Ball early under pretence of outfit coordination, quickly starting a massive rumour mill. Gossip was traded alongside every meal and soon there was a lot of pressure on everyone to have a date. Luna, sensing Neville's distress, asked to go with him as friends. He promptly agreed. Pansy and Draco, following suit, struck a similar deal.

This, however, did not stop Parvati Patil from trying to ask Draco to the Ball.

_Most of _them_ have tried. Why can't I? _She thought as she walked up the stairs towards Draco with visible determination. He seemed to be lost in thought.

"Ahem."

Now he was paying at least some semblance of attention.

"Will you go to the Beltaine Ball with me?"

"I don't..."

No, he was looking over her shoulder at someone. His hand moved slightly, almost as though he were waving. Parvati looked back, catching Neville Longbottom passing by on a nearby staircase, lowering his head to end eye contact. When Draco finally focused on the person in front of him, he was faced with a strangely grinning Parvati.

"Oh, so sorry. I guess I must've fogotten you already have a date to the Ball. Pardon me."

She quickly shoved her way past him and ran the rest of the way, leaving a confused Malfoy in her wake.

* * *

"It's really nice that you and Luna are going to the Ball together."

Neville blushed at Hermoine's comment.

"Well..ya know we both wanted to go with someone and no one else was gonna take us, so.."

"Oh nonsense, Neville. I'm sure you could find a girl who wanted to go with you."

"Besides, you like 'er, dontcha, mate?" Ron chimed in with a wide smile

"Uuuuuhh..." Neville blushed deeper. There was no way he could tell his friends who he really wanted to go with.

Ron snickered, good-naturedly smacking him on the shoulder.

"Don't feel bad about it mate. You'll get together eventually. I mean, look at me an' Hermoine!"

"If you really like her, Neville, you should tell her." Hermoine added

Neville clutched his head with both hands in frustration. The others took it as an indication that he wasn't as free from his shyness as they'd thought.

* * *

She was in a grove not far from the one where they usually took lessons, but entirely unseen from outside the forest. She held up her prize to the sunlight, allowing the rays to shine through the clear section of quartz that ran through the middle of the otherwise ordinary rock. It took her a while to find, especially considering she could only devote a small amount of time each day to searching. She wasn't that good at finding normal-looking things anyway.

There came a noise. She didn't know who else knew about this place, but she had some idea. Pansy slowly settled herself down next to her, hugging her knees. Her gaze immediately fixed to the rock Luna held. She set it down between them and a mossy patch and decided to wait for the Slytherin to speak.

"I..I missed you." Her voice was even and perhaps a touch unemotional, but then again, this has been difficult for her to accept.

"I know." Luna smiled and rested her head on Pansy's shoulder. Neither of them could say what needed to be said, so this had to be enough for now.

Pansy got out her wand and pointed it at the rock.

"_Setah._"

It didn't sound like any spell they were used to, having been based on a different language, but it felt right nonethless. A small yellow light rose out of Pansy's wand and settled into the quartz section, twinkling inside like a star. Luna sighed and took Pansy's hand, just as a gust of wind blew through the trees, bringing with it a multitude of colours.

* * *

A/N: Moar pickax!

This is actually one of the first scenes that popped up in my head, spawning this fanfic.

For those wondering wtf 'seta' is, it's Middle Egyptian for 'to light'. I have a thing for ancient Egypt, so I tend to stick references everywhere. Pansy's pronunciation is different from the original, thus making it a spell of her own making.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14: Beltaine**

The Gryffindor dormitory was aflutter with preparations for the Ball. The boys dressed themselves upstairs, while the girls occupied the common room, putting on dresses, fixing hair, and applying makeup. Hermoine felt a headache coming on with all the noise, but appreciated the distraction. The dresses were even more lavish this time around: Lavender settled on a sleek almost '20s-style red dress, Vermilda chose a purple one with heavy pleats, Ginny eventually settled on a puffy one in a darker pink, while Hermoine herself stuck to the one from the Yule Ball, but slightly modified with a large broach.

"I heard Susan Bones will be coming in bright yellow!" Lavender gushed

"Oh, how awful. It'll wash her out completely!"

"What have you heard, Parvati?"

Parvati was indeed unusually quiet this time, gossiping little, except to hint sagely at a possible surprise later on. Hermoine shivered every time she saw that face; it reminded her too much of Dumbledore.

Soon, the first of the boys came down to brave the pokes and comments of the girls downstairs. The most common of which was definitely "You wore that last time, how unimaginative!". Neville was not brave enough to be among the first, but came down early enough to get some notice. He wore gray dress robes with a solid green tie. Hermoine raised an eyebrow.

"Neville, why are you wearing...green and gray?"

"Uuuuhh...Luna told me to. She said she had a last minute dress change."

* * *

Luna left the common room early to go "meet Neville" under an archway, but it looked like Pansy was going to be late. She hoped that Pansy hadn't left notifying Draco about the change of plans until last minute, like she was threatening to.

"What are _you_ doing here, Lovegood?"

Luna spun around and landed right into Pansy's arms.

"Finally! I was starting to worry the Wrackspurts were keeping you!"

"No, Draco was just being a paranoid prat again."

"How did you - "

"I reminded him what Beltaine was all about. Now step back, I want to see how stunning you are."

Luna was wearing a dress in the same style as Pansy's, but in light green, with an oversized bow dominating the right side of the neckline. Pansy's dress was black, with a few checkerboard-patterned feathers on the left side, held in place by a light blue bird pin. She spun Luna around.

"_There_. No _way_ I was going to let _Longbottom_ hog you all evening."

Luna laughed.

* * *

The Ball was a lot brighter this time around. The season inspired a gorgeous display of flowers and greenery, both outside and inside the castle. The Great Hall was rearranged to make room for dancing, with three of the tables left along the wall for food and refreshments. The green tablecloths blossomed with flowers – daisies, violets, poppies, jasmine, lilies, and orchids unfurled their petals, grew to full bloom, and then shrunk back to buds in a never-ending cycle. It seemed that the Lady of Spring herself lent some of her own court's decorations to Hogwarts.

There was butterbeer and fruit punch, dandelion lemonade and pomegranate juice. There were desserts of all kinds, cheese, and candy, for when the dancers get hungry or nervous. The adults supervising loitered around these delicacies, sipping hibiscus wine instead of firewhiskey, looking vaguely unhappy to be stuck here for the evening. As students started filing into the hall, the hushed chatter ceased, replaced by hearty greetings and ecstatic cries. The enormous room was soon filled with people looking forward to enjoying an evening of pure fun. Ron Weasley, true to form, went straight for the food. Hermoine rolled her eyes good-naturedly, allowing him his flaws just this once. She eyed the decorations absently, expecting to wait for a while before Harry found them, but the small sunflower peering at her from the bouquet on the table left a nagging feeling in the back of her head, like she'd forgotten something.

"Oh!" she said, grabbing Ron's arm, causing him to almost drop a cream puff, "We haven't seen Neville and Luna yet! Neville said they were going to meet up and join us near the entrance."

"Hold on Hermoine, we've been here barely 5 minutes. Give 'em some time."

Hermoine turned towards the crowd to try to spot Neville's unusually-coloured robes. It shouldn't have been hard, since pretty much every other boy had settled on black, but there was not a hint of gray to be seen. Suddenly, there came a loud squeak from near one of the entrances. Hermoine, still holding on to Ron, made her way through the crowd towards the source. Ron found himself being pulled away from the dessert table and fumbled for his last eclair. He wouldn't get the chance to enjoy it though – finding himself back near the entrance from which he came, he looked up and had to drop it. Right in front of him stood Draco Malfoy in black dress robes and a shiny green-and-gold tie, arm-in-arm with none other than Neville Longbottom. Neville was blushing furiously, while Draco looked extremely pleased with himself, smirking in triumph at the staring crowd. From somewhere in the back, Parvati Patil was heard yelling "I bloody knew it!". Hermoine stared with the widest eyes she'd ever made, while Ron simply stood slack-jawed as his brain attempted to process what was going on. Hermoine regained the gift of speech first:

"But what about - "

Her answer presented itself shortly after, as Pansy steered Luna in next to Neville. Luna was smiling wide, while Pansy's expression closely mirrored Draco's.

"Took you long enough, Malfoy."

"Took _you_ longer, Parkinson."

"Touché."

Ron's expression became even more confused, while Hermoine's face conveyed something more along the lines of "Neville and Draco, I could understand, but _this_? This is just plain weird!". Neville, uncomfortable with his friends' silence, gave a fake cough and decided to do some explaining.

"Well, y'see, first we'd arranged it so I went with Luna and Draco went with Pansy, but...Pansy was less than happy with that arrangement."

Pansy nodded.

"We'd been going out secretly for some months, but it was getting painful being so careful all the time."

"Yeah, and what is Beltaine but the time for renewal?" Pansy added

The two couples finally walked into the hall, partially escorted by Hermoine, who fluttered around Neville to make sure that there was no coercion involved.

"I still don't get it..." said Ron when he finally found Seamus

"I think it'll be a while before ya do."

Soon the music started and, temporarily distracted, everyone gathered in the middle of the hall to jump and dance. There would be rumors and hushed voices in the morning, but for one evening, the couples were free to enjoy themselves. The night was otherwise uneventful... except for perhaps the sudden disappearance of Professor Snape halfway through the dance. Doubtless his concern for the young Malfoy had driven him to abandon flower-wine for heavier stuff.

* * *

A/N: What happened? Massive writer's block, that's what happened. And finals. And work. And..I'm just making up excuses aren't I?

Anyway, fun fact, this was the first scene I actually came up with in this story. It's been such a long time, it was kind of hard to write, but here it is, finally.

whew

thank you for sticking with me this far. One more chapter left!


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15: Sorrow and Hope**

Gathering the four students took longer than Hagrid anticipated. Lumbering through the grounds was difficult enough on its own, but Dumbledore seemed to see no need to inform any of the professors that some of their students had to be taken out of class today. Sprout was rather difficult to convince; they were working on something particularly unique, apparently. But eventually, everyone was gathered back at the grove.

"What's going on?" Arthur asked

"Wind an' Gold are gonna be leaving now. Dumbledore said you oughta say yer goodbyes. I'll be jus' outside if ya need me."

He left as quickly as possible. Experience told him he didn't want to be there when it got emotional.

Luna immediately went to hug Wind, who touched her beak to the girl's back. Stepping away, Luna held up her rock, which still held the Pansy's tiny star.

"I think I'm going to make a pendant out of it. What do you think?"

Wind cooed. She took a feather from a pile that was under her wing, of the feathers she used in her nest, and pushed it into Luna's hand. Luna turned to Neville, who snapped out of his stupor and rushed in to hug both of them. For a while they just stood together, saying nothing at all. Soon, though, both Luna and Neville stepped back, sensing that the time to go was nearing. Wind then reached for a small branch, which she gave to Neville; there were more of her feathers tied to the end. She looked over at Gold, where Arthur held his own gift – a small red stone. Draco, who stood somewhat farther away, clutched something metallic in his hand. Both gryphons then stepped back, bowed to their former pupils gracefully, and lifted off into the sky. Neville gave a small wave to their shrinking forms, hastily wiping off stray tears.

* * *

They flew home slowly, striving to remember the details of the countryside below, engraving the events of the past year into their minds as deeply as possible. When they finally returned, Gold added the names of their latest students to the growing list they diligently kept. Gold's paw shook even as he was writing. Setting the pen down, he turned to Wind. She, of course, understood him perfectly well. These were no longer mere students of theirs. They felt like children that were taken away from them all too soon. So Wind placed a wing around her mate and soothed his pain. They will send their children off as though they were their own.

They asked Light, Gold's sister, to make pictures of them from the memories they both had and put them up near their nest; Arthur's was framed by oak twigs, Draco's by dried rose vines, Luna's by willow branches, and Neville's by living moss. When the wedding date comes, they will put Pansy's picture next to Luna's and arrange the branches to surround her picture too, but for now it remained hidden.

Both made their way to the square. This was the largest cave in the system, where, according to tradition, mourning was done in public. They came to the middle and sat down, gathering strength. At first, there was silence, but then,

They wailed.

The cried for grief of losing children they knew for so short a time, cried for the little knowledge they could impart to then. They cried for sadness, for the unfairness they would suffer at the hands of their peers, for the pains of war that they would suffer at so young an age, for the hardships that would nearly tear them apart. They cried for the deaths that their children would see, the scars that would be left on their souls and their bodies. They cried for the crippling terror that was to come.

They cried for joy – that their wayward son will finally stand up for himself and choose the right side, that through everything their children would survive, and that eventually love will fill their hearts and homes. They cried for the sons and daughters that their children will have, that they will never see or speak to. They cried for their children's successes and failures and the knowledge that though they be human, they will live according to what they've been taught. They cried for the bright future that will be.

They cried the tears of ancestors long gone, who too have been parted from their children. They cried tears of their own grief, and they cried the tears of the grandchildren that were not yet born. They cried, and as they did, others joined them. The caves echoed with the sound of a thousand creatures weeping.

Today, the tribe will mourn.

* * *

A/N: It's finally done! Sorry for the wait, I hope it was worth it.

Thank you to all the readers who stuck with this for so long and have been so patient with me. You're amazing 3


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